CoCo Vandeweghe highlights Aryna Sabalenka is absolutely looking like the best player in the game right now but the former two-time Grand Slam semifinalist is also warning the Belarusian that she is now officially "the hunted one" after replacing Iga Swiatek at the world No. 1 spot.
Over the last three months, the 26-year-old has been an absolute menace to her competition, winning the US Open, as well as the WTA 1000 tournaments in Cincinnati and Wuhan. Her only defeat in her last four tournaments came against Karolina Muchova in the Beijing quarterfinal.
While Sabalenka was busy collecting titles, Swiatek didn't have a great summer and she also recently fired her long-time coach and skipped the entire Asian swing. And after melting the Pole's lead weekly for the past few months, the Belarusian returned to the top spot on Monday.
For months, this year's Australian Open and US Open champion chased Swiatek's No. 1 position. Now, the 26-year-old has it. But she now also has the pressure that the Pole had.
Its because she has the momentum. Shes coming off the US Open, she hasnt really played much post-US Open. Where you see people playing that are trying to get some momentum back, Im going to drop Iga in that list, Im going to drop Jessie Pegula in that list even though Jessie made the finals [of the US Open]. Because they have a sour taste in their mouth from a loss that they think maybe they shouldnt have had. Aryna is the hunted and its also: what is she going to do with that big target on her back?" former world No. 9 Vandeweghe said on Tennis Channel's Inside-In podcast.
For so long its been Iga thats had that big target on her back and everyones chasing Iga to take that No 1 ranking, to beat her on the biggest stages. Now, Sabalenkas going to have that mantle, and whats she going to be able to do with it? Can she hold onto that? Can she step up to that occasion?
Swiatek's new coach had a warning for Sabalenka
After splitting with her coach of three years, Tomasz Wiktorowski - who guided her to four Grand Slams during their time together - the 23-year-old added Wim Fissette to her team.
While Swiatek is undoubtedly a formidable force on clay, she is evidently vulnerable on hard and grass. And Fissette - who helped Naomi Osaka win the Australian Open and US Open - wants to make the four-time French Open champion a better player on faster surfaces.
Our goal is for Iga to start adding more Grand Slam titles on other surfaces as well. The clay-court season has its own twists. There are a lot of matches and tournaments played in a short period of time. You need to get into a rhythm, gain confidence, and after Paris its time to switch to other surfaces. Then there will be an opportunity to work on playing on other surfaces and try to succeed there," the Belgian coach told Eurosport Poland.
In the same interview, Fissette guaranteed that he will have Swiatek ready for the matches against her biggest competitors and specifically mentioned Sabalenka.
Top players want to play big matches, thats their main motivation. They usually dont have problems with it, it makes them happy. How do I work? I have information, videos. I prepare my players, we discuss strengths and weaknesses, prepare tactically and draw conclusions. In the case of tennis players like Aryna Sabalenka or Elena Rybakina, you make an analysis and look for a way to beat them," Fissette explained.
Sabalenka admitted she wants to avoid the rankings scenario from last year
After becoming the world No. 1 for the first time in her career following the 2023 US Open, the Belarusian tennis star reigned for just eight weeks. Even though she had a good lead versus Swiatek, she still lost the top position after not doing as well as she needed at the 2023 WTA Finals.
This year, it's a similar situation as Sabalenka will arrive in Riyadh with a 1,046 point advantage over the second-ranked Pole.
"N1. Lets see for how long this time," Sabalenka wrote on X after reclaiming the top spot.
Heading into the WTA Finals, the 26-year-old is in the pole position to secure the Year-End No. 1 ranking. There are multiple scenarios in which the Belarusian can finish the season as the top-ranked player and some of those include winning all three group matches - winning one or two group matches but reaching the final - Swiatek failing to make it past the Round Robin stage, etc.
Also, even if Swiatek wins the title but Sabalenka reaches the final, the Belarusian would still finish as No. 1.
